Is there a time for ancient genius of man
To be set for comparison with the latest generation?
Carl Sandburg (American Poet) - From "Special Starlight"
The BIG Questions:
1. How do we as individuals, and as a people, make sense of material in the Torah that no longer applies directly (or in limited ways only) to modern Jewish life?
2. How and why do some Jewish laws, traditions, and practices stay in vogue and some do not? Is this process intentional, unintentional, a combination of both?
3. Are there ancient practices that we believe deserve 'another chance'?
4. Are there current practices that are now 'on the way out'? Should we let them go? Save them?
5. Additional BIG questions?
(יח) רבי אליעזר בן חסמא אומר, קנין ופתחי נדה, הן הן גופי הלכות .תקופות וגמטריאות, פרפראות לחכמה.
(18) Rabbi Eliezer ben Chisma says: the laws of Kinin [bird offerings] and Niddah [menstruation], these are the essential laws. Astronomical calculations and Gematria [numerical calculations] are the condiments to wisdom.
Both bird offerings and laws of niddah, and other flows from the male and female body, are found in Leviticus, and more specifically these and more are found in the portions Tazria and Metzorah. Leviticus Chapters 12 through 15 - Note that the word 'Guf' means 'body'.
Why is it important to study material that may be anachronistic or not relevant to our current practice?
הרב עובדיה מברטנורא
׳הן הן גופי הלכות: עיקר תורה שבעל פה, שמקבלים עליהם שכר.
R. Obadiah of Bartenura, Commentary to Mishnah Avot 3:18
'These are the essential laws': [They are] the most central part of the oral Torah, since [for these mitzvoth] we receive a reward.
*The Rabbis discourage us from fulfilling mitzvoth with the intention of receiving reward. Does Bartenura's statement contradict this approach?
וזה אשר רצה התנא באמרו קינין ופתחי נדה הן הן גופי הלכות ולא אמר שהן הן גופי התורה, וזה מפני שעיקר התורה היא ההלכה וכמו שאמרו בפרק ד' דמגילה (כ"ח, ב') תאנא דבי אליהו כל השונה הלכות מובטח שהוא בן עולם הבא שנאמר הליכות עולם לו אל תקרי הליכות אלא הלכות עולם לו עד כאן. והטעם הוא כי התורה היא המביאה את האדם לחיי עולם הבא, וכאשר ההלכה היא הלכה פסוקה אינה נוטה מנקודת האמת לא לימין ולא לשמאל ולכך נקרא הלכה, כי ההולך הוא הולך בדרך הישר אינו נוטה לימין ולשמאל, ולפיכך הדרך הזה שאינו נוטה לימין ולשמאל הוא הדרך שמביא האדם
Derech Chaim, P. 158-159
This is what the tanna means when he says, "bird offerings and niddah are the essential laws"and when he does not say "They are the essential part of the Torah". The reason is that the essential part of the Torah is halachah, as they said in the fourth chapter of Megillah, from the teachings of the House of Eliyahu, all who study halachot are guaranteed an afterlife, as it says, 'Everlasting paths for him'...The reason is that the Torah brings a person to everlasting life, and when halachah is decided it does not diverge from truth to the right or to the left and therefore it is called halachah ('pathway'). For the one who is journeying travels on a straight path and does not diverge to the right or left, and therefore this path does not go right or left and it is the path that carries a person completely to the next world.
*But why are these particular halachot so central according to R. Eliezer b. Hisma? Elsewhere, R. Akiba argues that "Love your neighbor as yourself", Leviticus 19:18, is the 'central' teaching of the Torah. Is R. Eliezer b Hisma implicitly disagreeing with R. Akiba? The next two sources source offer opinions on these questions.
כלומר, אל יהיו קלות בעיניך אלא שים לבך עליהן כי חמורות הן יותר מדאי ותמצא בהם עומק גדול:
Rashi (Commentary to Avot 3:18)
'These are the essential laws': That is to say, do not let them seem unimportant in your eyes; rather, fix your attention on them since they are extremely significant and in them you will find great depth.
הלכך אצטריך לאשמעינן דאף הן גופי הלכות אפילו בזמן שאין בה״מ קיים לפי שהתלמוד שבהם במקום עבודה היא...
Tosfot Yom Tov (To Avot 3:18)
The laws of bird offerings only apply when the Holy Temple is standing. Therefore, it is necessary to teach that these laws are essential in the Torah even when the Temple does not exist, since the study of these laws stands in place of performing them...
How do the Rabbis help make this material more relevant to current practice?
Maimonides (Commentary to Mishna Negaim 12:5, as quoted by Nehama Leibowitz, Vayikra Vol. 1, p. 187)
Our Sages have said that tzara'at comes as punishment for the evil tongue, for its owner is isolated and can no longer harm people with his loose talk. This will begin in his house. If he does not repent, the tzara'at will affect his bed and his couches, as stated in the Torah, "or in anything made of skin." If he does not mend his ways, his garments will suffer, and if this has not brought about his penitence, it will come on his body and the skin of his flesh."
Tanchuma & Yalkut to Parshat Metzora - Quoted in Me'am Loez
"Rather, we are compelled to know that plagues (nega'im) do not come from nature, but rather they are sent by God to wake us up from our sleep to do teshuvah and so that we look carefully at our deeds (yefashpesh be'masav) and begin repentance."
Chatam Sofer
'A woman who gives birth': Rabbi Simlai said just as the creation of humanity occurs after the [creation of] cattle, wild animals, and birds, so too the Torah of humanity is explained after the Torah of cattle, wild animals, and birds.(Material about which animals are pure and impure.)(Rashi) Even so, humans are the foremost part of creation, the crown of creation, and just a little below the Divine.(Psalms 8:6) Man should not think in his heart that he has power and can break through all fences that he is proud and haughty in his heart...Therefore, the Torah places the laws of animals prior to laws regarding people, to teach us that righteous and good people can rise to the level of angels and a person in this exalted place can achieve high levels. In spite of this, those infected with tza'ra'at and those who are impure, who were corrupted and made filthy by their sins...they are lower than animals and worse than predators...Just as a human being is able to go up levels, up and up, with the power of choice, so we are able through our power to descend to the depths of She'ol below.
Jacob Milgrom Leviticus, p. 123
Impurity in Israelite religion was not the purview of the demons; it was a sign of moral failing and physical infirmity in humanity. The former represented Israel's disobedience-their violation of God's prohibitive commandments. The latter represented the diminution of life and, if unchecked, destruction and death.
Yad Yosef to Metzora as Quoted in Me'am Lo'ez
"Since the only advantage of human over beast is the knowledge and the ability to speak; therefore, if a person merits to use knowledge and speech for Torah study and for the purpose of mitzvoth, the person precedes the angels, but if the person uses them for speaking the evil tongue (lashon ha'ra) and for speaking about trivial matters, the beast is superior, since [at least] the beast demonstrates the merit of silence."
Raphael Loewe (The Position of Women in Judaism, 1966, Quoted in Isaac Klein, 1979, p. 511)
The preservation of niddah laws alone...is a conscious emphasis on, and an attempt at the inculcation in a particularly significant are of human interest, of that self-discipline which must be-in all aspects of life-an integral element in the Jewish ideal of cultivating 'holiness' (kedushah).
*The Loewe text has its origins in the commentaries to the opening lines of Parshat Kedoshim; Leviticus, 19.
(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יי אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר (ב) דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־כָּל־עֲדַ֧ת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֥ אֲלֵקֶ֖ם קְדֹשִׁ֣ים תִּהְי֑וּ כִּ֣י קָד֔וֹשׁ אֲנִ֖י יי אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃
(1) And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: (2) Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them: You shall be holy; for I the LORD your God am holy.
..."קדושים תהיו" - הוו פרושים מן העריות ומן העבירה שכל מקום שאתה מוצא גדר ערוה אתה מוצא קדושה לשון רש"י אבל בתורת כהנים (פרשה א ב) ראיתי סתם פרושים תהיו וכן שנו שם (שמיני פרק יב ג) והתקדשתם והייתם קדושים כי קדוש אני כשם שאני קדוש כך אתם תהיו קדושים כשם שאני פרוש כך אתם תהיו פרושים ולפי דעתי אין הפרישות הזו לפרוש מן העריות כדברי הרב אבל הפרישות היא המוזכרת בכל מקום בתלמוד שבעליה נקראים פרושים והענין כי התורה הזהירה בעריות ובמאכלים האסורים והתירה הביאה איש באשתו ואכילת הבשר והיין א"כ ימצא בעל התאוה מקום להיות שטוף בזמת אשתו או נשיו הרבות ולהיות בסובאי יין בזוללי בשר למו וידבר כרצונו בכל הנבלות שלא הוזכר איסור זה בתורה והנה יהיה נבל ברשות התורה לפיכך בא הכתוב אחרי שפרט האיסורים שאסר אותם לגמרי וצוה בדבר כללי שנהיה פרושים מן המותרות...
(2) "You shall be holy" ...One should be separate from sexual transgressions and all other transgressions, for any place that one find a fence or mention of sexual transgressions, one also finds a mention of the word "kadosh" or holiness. This is the language of Rashi. But in Sefer Vayikra, there is only a phrase of "You should be separate". And they learned there (Chapter 12:3), That the people should be holy because Hashem is holy and the people should be separate as Hashem is separate. According to my opinion, the separation is not from sins of sexual transgression, like the rabbi (Rashi) says. Rather, the separation should occur in any place that we choose to distance ourselves [from temptations]. The issue comes when the Torah warns of sexual transgressions and forbidden foods, the Torah also allows sexual relations between husband and wife and allows eating of meats and wines. Therefore, a desirous person will take advantage and have multiple wives or will be a savage when it comes to drinking wine and eating meat. He will do as he pleases because there is no prohibition in the Torah. However, he will be a scoundrel in the permissions of the Torah. Therefore, the Torah comes to mention specifically after the prohibitions, the general rule or law that we should be separate from the permissible areas of the Torah.
*Even in the fulfillment of mitzvot, we need to strive for self-discipiline and appropriate intention (kavvannah).
The Sefat Emet - Rebbe of Ger, As quoted by Rabbi Arthur Green
"Then shall the priest command total for the one to be cleansed two living birds..."(Lev. 14:4) Rashi comments that 'leprosy' is a punishment for evil speech and birds are chatterers. The holy Zohar says that such afflictions come about both through evil words and through good words that we pass up an opportunity to speak...The birds are there to atone for two sins. The one that is slaughtered is there so that one will cut himself off from idle chatter, and how much more from evil talk itself. The bird that is set free is to prepare the mouth and tongue to speak words of Torah.
Yesod Ve'Shoresh Ha'Avodah - R. Alexander Ziskind of Horodna (18th C.) - Vol 1, p. 6
"All the repairs (tikunim) for all the worlds are dependent the speech and words of human beings in the world below. Indeed, [humanity's] good actions and thoughtful prayers, as well as holy Torah study and other dialogue between people about worshipping the Blessed Creator, all the worlds are repaired and lifted up. The opposite is true, God forbid, [evil action and speech] causes defects in all the worlds."
*Through mindfulness about the functioning of the body, in this case the way we produce words, we strive to purify the environment with our words.